Trustee Rejecting Chapter 7

[Nvaughan1]

Hello All,
I just got a text from my attorney stating that he just recieved an email from the trustees office that they are rejecting our chapter 7 filing. So a little back story we filed chp 7 after meeting the means test, we did everything we were supposed to and attending the 341 meeting, during the meeting we were asked lots of questions about assets ext and things not included that our attorney should have prepped us for, the big thing was we took out an 80,000 personal loan 1 year prior to filing to build a pool so the trustee asked for photos and asked for a recent appraisal I had done on house showing we didn't have a ton of equity. "the pool didn't help with equity". We left the meeting stressed, caught off guard and scared. We turned everything into our attorney and he forgot to refile the documents with the trustee until a month later.
Today I got the text about them rejecting our case and that we need to convert to a chapter 13 or dissmiss the case. I am at a loss of what it could be, and if it is related to the pool or filing forms late, I feel like my attorney should have prepped me for that.
I am scared if we file chapter 13 we won't have anything extra to live, we have 5 kids all in sports and busy, what if we need to purchase a newer vehicle? we don't have anything fancy now. I just feel scared and confused and not certain on what to do next? I feel like we scrap by as is, and to go into a chapter 13 is going to make it even harder.

[shipo]

Talk it over with your attorney, the job of your attorney and the Trustee is to make you successful in getting through a Chapter 13; it won't be fun and there won't be a lot of spare cash, but it should be manageable.

[justbroke]

Definitely talk it over with your attorney. I'm nearly 100% certain that the loan (of $80K) has nothing to do with not qualifying for a Chapter 7 discharge. There has to be something related to your income itself which is causing you to have an "excess" in disposable monthly income (DMI).

I would say to settle down for a moment. A Chapter 7 Trustee cannot reject a Chapter 7. The Chapter 7 Trustee, or the United States Trustee (UST) can only ask the court to dismiss the Chapter 7 or convert to a Chapter 13. You can always fight the opinion of the UST or Trustee. The question is really about your DMI and why it is over the amount usually required to get a Chapter 7 discharge.

[Nvaughan1]

Thank you for the replies, spoke with my attorney last night and the trustee thinks we have 900$ in excess a month and wants us to convert to chapter 13, during my discussion with our attorney he forgot to include my student loan debt and our monthly payments in regards to those, he is supposed to run a payment schedule today and submit to the trustee.
I feel a little better now knowing it was something minor. However chapter 13 isn’t off the table.. anyone know how little or big a payment could be?
if we were to only have a small amount of disposable income?

[shipo]

There is no way any of us could suggest what your payment might be with any accuracy. It could be $1.00 per month, it could be $900; that will be for you, your attorney, and the Trustee to hash out.

[justbroke]

... our attorney he forgot to include my student loan debt and our monthly payments in regards to those...

Unfortunately student loans are put into deferment during the life of a hypothetical Chapter 13. This means that most Trustees won't allow student loan payments to count as an expense. You may be in a district where they do allow the student loan payments to be counted as an expense. I don't have that answer.

If you do end up needing to convert I can't speculate as to your payment. The payment will typically include your mortgage (if it was behind in payments), any mortgage arrears, other secured debt payments (such as a car), in-plan attorney fees, trustee fee, and your disposable monthly income (DMI).